TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
TRAINING FOR RESEARCHERS
- SUPPORTING CAREER
DEVELOPMENT
World Science Forum, 24-27 November 2013, Rio
Graduation rates at doctoral level
4
PhD graduate rates are increasing ….
%
2000 and 2011 (as % of total population)
43 47 45 51 45 46 45 42 50 46 49 49 51 44 53 46 47 43 43 43 32 51 57 53 52 44 47 30 38 44 47 52 51 47 45 46 42 42 40
Above: Percentage of doctoral graduates in 2011 that were women
2000
3
Percentage of doctorate degrees
awarded to women
IDN
ZAF
CHL
MEX
TUR
RUS
BRA
POL
HUN
ISL
JPN
GRC
ESP
EST
CAN
ITA
PRT
ISR
CZE
KOR
BEL
FRA
OECD
SVN
NLD
USA
SVK
AUS
IRL
NZL
NOR
AUT
DNK
CHN
FIN
GBR
DEU
CHE
SWE
0
1
2011
2
Right axis:
doctoral
graduates as
percentage of
the total
population
Source: OECD (2013) OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2013, OECD Publishing
2
Doctorate holders working as researchers
2009
As a % of employed doctorate holders
%
Researchers
Unspecified
Share among women
100
Recent PhDs
only – previous
3 years
80
60
40
…. with most PhDs working as researchers …….
Source: OECD (2013) OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2013, OECD Publishing
3
Doctorate holders by employment sector
2009
As a % of employed doctorate holders
%
Higher education
Government
Business enterprise
Other/Unknown
Only recent doctorate graduates
(three prev ious y ears)
100
80
60
40
20
0
… in both the public and private sectors.
Source: OECD (2013) OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2013, OECD Publishing
4
Researchers and doctorate holders
require a variety of skills
“Transferable skills” - skills learned in one context (e.g.
research) that can be useful in another (e.g. future
employment in research, business, etc.). They apply in a
broad variety of work situations and sectors.
Examples of transferable skills:
–
–
–
–
Communication
Problem-solving
Team-working and networking
Business and management know-how
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
5
Formal “transferable skills” training is
one way to achieve these competencies
While researchers acquire some key skills in the course
of their studies/work, others may require more
systematic and quality-consistent training So we looked at this via an OECD study on policies
and practices in
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
National governments
National government ministries
Regional/state-level governments
Universities
University departments/faculties
Research institutions
Other organisations
6
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
What do we mean by “transferable
skills”? – broad typology
7
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Key Findings
OECD (2012) Transferable
Skills Training for Researchers:
Supporting Career
Development and Research,
OECD Publishing
www.oecd.org
8
Key finding 1: Most training is driven by
individual institutions
• Institutions are the main actors in
terms of transferable skills training, with
the role of government secondary to
that of universities, research institutions
and other organisations
• Of those responding, 1/3 of
governments have a strategy,
compared to almost 2/3 of universities
9
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Key finding 2: Main focus of transferable
skills training
• Training mostly targets PhD students, post-docs
and early-stage researchers not Master’s
students (for which few governments, universities,
research institutions have explicit strategies or
programmes).
• Industrial PhDs, internships and exchanges are the most
common forms of workplace experience and almost 1/3
of universities plan to expand workplace
experience programmes or to make this a more
systematic part of their approach
• Respondents also noted the importance of
researcher mobility and collaborative research
projects in building skills
10
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Key finding 3: Differences across countries
• Study revealed a significant amount of
transferable skills training activity, undertaken
predominantly by individual institutions
• In some countries it is relatively new (e.g.
Luxembourg), while in others organised activity
has taken place for some time (e.g. United
Kingdom). Government involvement is high in
some countries (e.g. Korea) but not in others (e.g.
Germany).
• Also differences according to the context (e.g.
technical universities may focus more on academic
skills than transferable skills because co-operation
with industry may be considered sufficient)
11
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Key finding 4: Broad goals of transferable
skills training
 Enhancing the employability of researchers
in academia
 Preparing researchers for a wider labour
market
 Improving research
 Also a number of additional strategic goals
which sometimes overlap, e.g. teaching
quality, commercialisation and knowledge
transfer, international co-operation and a
quality research environment
12
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Key finding 5 (of 5): Role for government
• While institutions play the primary role in transferable
skills training, governments potentially have roles
ranging from strategic oversight to funding delivery
• Most initiatives are fairly recent and the vast majority of
programmes for transferable skills training have not yet
been evaluated
• Difficult to comment on their impact, e.g. the change in skill
levels due to the programmes, the subsequent effects, unintended
consequences, changes in behaviour etc.
13
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Conclusion 1: Policy areas for review
• Interest in taking a more systematic approach to
training and to embedding training more
thoroughly in existing education and research
structures
• Make funding conditional on transferable skills
training, notably for funding doctoral studies – a
possibility
14
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Conclusion 2: Suggestions for policy-makers
• Investigate options for boosting the monitoring and
evaluation of transferable skills training
• Explore ways to facilitate dialogue between academia
and industry on training needs and opportunities
• Consider ways to encourage provision of industrial
PhD options as a complement to formal training
courses in universities, as well as opportunities for
mobility
• Look at how general policies on collaborative research
can be leveraged to support transferrable skills
training opportunities for researchers at all stages of
their careers
15
Source: OECD (2012) Transferable Skills Training for Researchers: Supporting Career Development and Research, OECD Publishing
Case study 1: Nanotechnology (OECD WPN)
• To identify education policies fostering skills for nano and its
convergence with other technologies; establish how these are
being implemented; and identify good practice.
• 7 top-level questions to governments:
– Are the terms ‘nano education’ and ‘nano skills’ recognised in your government/country?
– Is there a national government strategy in your country that has a (or some) focus on
nano-education and skills?
– Within what educational tier are ‘nano education and skills’ developed in your country?
– Does industry play a role in developing skills and education?
– Has an assessment of need for nanotechnology education and skills been made in your
country?
– In your country, what are the challenges associated with the development of appropriate
levels of nano education and skills?
– Have you undertaken any monitoring and/or evaluation of your nanotechnology skills
and education policies?
www.oecd.org/sti/nano
Will identify…
• Global (country-specific) approaches and strategies to
the development of nanotechnology skills and education;
• The educational tier at which these are encouraged;
• Challenges faced in developing these types of skills; and
• Good practices.
OECD Working Party on Nanotechnology report end 2014
www.oecd.org/sti/nano
Case study 2: Biotechnology (OECD WPB)
Main areas of activity where skills are required….
…….but constantly changing (e.g. synthetic biology, bioeconomy)
Research
Initiation
Biotechnology:
a set of enabling
technologies
Development
Pre-trial
Production
Bulk production
Product finishing
Clinical trials
Main Requirements for Development
Research
funding,
Research
Stars,
PhD, IP law
Legislation (IP
Protection)
Regulation, Scientific,
Technical and
Management Skills,
Commercialisation
Skills, Venture Capital
Infrastructure
Scientific,
Management and
General Skills,
Quality Control,
Private Funding
Bulk product
Scientific,
Management
and
General Skills,
Quality control
Forfas Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (2003). The supply and demand for skills in the biotechnology sector.
www.oecd.org/sti/biotechnology